Can't Take It
by purplefeather21
Summary: He was back. And a few months ago, so she had also returned. They never knew each other until now. Ashley Massaro and Tyson Tomko may soon learn just how similar they are......And just how much they really are attracted to each other. A Tomko/Ashley story
1. Chapter 1

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A/N: Thank you Kat and Tina for all your help! To everyone else, happy reading! Reviews are appreciated. I know it's not very long, but that's only for the introduction. It does get longer, and better :D

That was it. He was officially back. He had competed against Paul Birchill in a dark match. Much to the displeasure of Chris Jericho, his friend. In his opinion, Tyson deserved so much more.

"Hey man, it's good to have you back." World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena hugged the man known as _The Problem Solver._

"Thanks, man, it's great to be back," Tyson replied, as he clapped John on the shoulder. "You know, I'm not as nervous as I thought I would be." He looked around the arena.

"Maybe because you've worked with most of us before?" he teased.

"Nah, I think you're just so glad to be back with the winners here on RAW, that you forgot about being nervous." the brown-haired man smiled.

"Winners, huh? I'm not sure how Adam would feel about that." he replied.

"See, that's the perfect example right there of a loser," John pointed. "That's why he's on Smackdown, and me and you are on RAW. Champions like me, and you, belong on RAW. I know you don't have a belt yet, but trust me, dude, you will soon. I guarantee it."

Tyson laughed. "Thanks, I appreciate that. I hope so. I'm not worried about that, though. Being champion is important to me, but I'm wrestling for the love I have for wrestling. So, uh, you gonna introduce me to the rest of the guys?"

* * *

"Awesome!" Maria yelled as she went inside the women's locker room.

The other Divas in there looked at her strangely.

"What?" Ashley Massaro asked.

"You'll never guess who I just saw!" she said, a wide smile on her face. "It just…wow. What a surprise."

"Who?" the Dirty Diva asked curiously.

"None other than the Problem Solver himself, Tyson Tomko," Maria replied, still a bit jittery. "I can't believe he's back here, in the WWE!"

"What?" Ashley asked, taken by surprise.

"Yeah, he just returned tonight. He had a dark match against Paul Burchill." Maria explained, as the Dirty Diva took it all in. "I just saw him talking with John and he told me how great it felt to be back."

"That's great!" the blonde woman smiled. "I've seen him wrestle before, and he's impressive."

"And," Maria added, "He said he wants to meet the rest of the roster later. I wonder if he'll come talk to us first?" Maria looked at her reflection in the mirror and smoothed her hair down. "Oh gosh, I'm nervous." She turned to Ashley. "Will you come with me to go see him? I don't want to go alone…..I may end up saying something really stupid. Please, Ash, come with me?"

"Um," Ashley paused, but seeing the look on her friend's face, she sighed. "Fine."

"Let's go already," Maria urged impatiently, tugging on the blonde's hair. "I want to catch him before he goes to talk to Candice or whoever."

"I don't know why he'd go to Candice first, if he has any common sense, but okay. Let's go." Ashley stood up, and followed her friend out the door.

* * *

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Tyson Tomko." Randy Orton sneered. "What, you came for round two after you found out TNA didn't want you?"

"Nice to see you too, Orton," Tomko replied coolly. "And, actually, I left TNA on good terms." He glared at the younger man. "I see you haven't changed a bit…still the same old Randy, trying to push everyone around."

Randy glared. "I don't push anyone around. I make sure people know who I am, and just how valuable I am to this company."

"By doing what? Getting others to do your dirty work?" Tyson asked.

"For your information, I have earned everything I've gotten," The Legend Killer snarled. "I'm nobody's lackey, but I can't say the same for you. You were just Christian's little lap dog, and when he got tired of you, you became nothing. So don't you dare insult me."

"Excuse me?" he asked. "I'm nothing. No, Randy, you're nothing. Everyone I've talked to has had good things to say about everyone but you. You are nothing if you don't have things like friends and family that care about you. Sure, wrestling is great, but it only gets you so far." he replied.

"Listen here, Tyson Tomko," Randy hissed, "You don't know me, and I damn sure don't want to know you. So why don't you just keep your nose out of my business and stay in the lower-card, where you belong? What I do with my life is my business, and I don't like people messing in my business."

"Which is why you're all alone." Maria, who happened to be coming inside catering with Ashley, said.

"Maria," Randy said, turning his head at the sound of the redhead's voice. "Don't you have someone to be interviewing or something?" He scowled. "Or did Tomko send you down here to stick up for him?"

"I stopped interviewing." she snapped. "And, no, he didn't. I heard he was , and stopped by to say hi. You know, a friendly thing people do. Oh, but wait, what would you know about being friendly?"

"Can you tell me how this conversation is any of your business whatsoever?" Randy replied angrily. "I was just having a conversation with Tomko, no big deal. Shouldn't you be slutting it up with the other Diva whores or something?" he spat.

"Whores? Who are you to judge us based on a stereotype we seem to have when you aren't any better than the ring rats?" Ashley stepped in.

"Can you tell me how this conversation is any of your business whatsoever?" Randy replied angrily. "I was just having a conversation with Tomko, no big deal. Shouldn't you be slutting it up with the other Diva whores or something?" he spat.

"Whores? Who are you to judge us based on a stereotype we seem to have when you aren't any better than the ring rats?" Ashley stepped in.

"Enough." John said, putting himself between the two Divas and the Legend Killer.

"What's going on here?" he asked, looking back and forth between the girls and Randy. "Is he bothering you ladies?"

Randy just stayed silent, fuming, but decided it would be better to leave.

"Anyways," Maria started. "I heard you were back Ty, and I wanted to see if the rumors were true." she smiled at the returning superstar.

"Thanks, Maria. It's good to see you. Who's your friend?" he asked, referring to Ashley

"Ashley." the blonde introduced herself as she stuck out her hand. "I'm Ashley Massaro."


	2. Justice

**A/N: I apologize for taking so long to update again. I was suffering from writer's block. So, I stopped writing, but my inspiration is getting back into my head. I know that after the Draft, Maria was sent to Smackdown. And she will, eventually.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the WWE or it's Superstars.**

* * *

"So, you two ladies didn't seem to have a problem stepping up and letting Randy know he wasn't going to step on you." the _Problem Solver _observed as he walked with the two Divas.

"Yeah, well, being a Diva, you gotta learn to stick up for yourself." Ashley replied.

"Especially with a jerk like Randy." Maria added.

"He is a jerk." Tyson agreed. "Then again, he's always talking about someone, but can never back it up."

"Hey, guys, sorry to cut this short, but I have to go. My match against Candice is next." Maria apologized. "But, I'm sure you two won't have a problem talking to each other." She winked at the Dirty Diva.

"Very funny." Ashley said, her eyes narrowing.

"See you guys later." the redhead waved before heading towards the corner.

"Sorry about that. Maria's got good intentions and hopes for the best. Sometimes a little too much if you ask me, but her heart's in the right place." the blonde laughed.

"Yeah, I'd have to agree. I don't know how she always has so much energy. She's always so cheery." he replied.

"So Tomko, what made you come back to the WWE if you don't mind me asking?" the New York native questioned.

* * *

_It had been a normal evening. Well, actually not so normal compared to the others. Any other Sunday morning, he would have been getting ready for TNA's monthly pay-per-views. But, ever since leaving TNA, he was able to relax more than before. Though his relaxation time had been cut short with a phone call. _

"_Hello?" he answered._

"_Tyson? This is Stephanie McMahon. How are you?" she asked._

"_Fine. What about you?" he asked, surprised at hearing the Billion Dollar Princess on the phone. In all honesty, that was the last person he expected to hear on the phone._

"_I'm fine, thank you. Listen, the reason for my phone call was this, I know you parted ways with TNA just short of three months ago. Now, I would understand if you wanted to take a break from wrestling, but the company was wondering if you would like to consider coming back and working for us." she paused, letting the news of her offer sink in. _

"_Stephanie, I don't know what to say. I'm flattered." he said sincerely._

"_Well, hopefully, you say yes." she joked. "No, seriously, it would be great to see you back. You've always been someone I've enjoyed seeing. I'll give you a week to give me a call back and then you can let me know your decision." _

"_I will." he promised._

"_Well, on that note, take care, and I'll talk to you in a week." the brunette replied._

"_Yeah, thanks. You too." he responded and hung up the phone."_

* * *

"Well, it's great to have you back. I've always been a fan of you, and I'm sure you'll do great." the Dirty Diva said.

"I appreciate that. I'm not the only one who's come back though, am I?" he asked, a grin on his usually serious face.

Ashley laughed. "No, you're right. I guess you could say I'm back too."

"You guess? You should sound more confident than that."

"I usually am. But, I'm tired of it. Being labeled a slut or eye-candy just because I'm into wrestling. That usually about kills any enthusiasm a girl can have."

"Well, you seem like a bright girl, don't let jerks like Randy bring you down. Whatever he usually says isn't true anyway. Plus, he only says it to feel better about himself. That doesn't make it any bit true, though." he mused.

"You're right. It's just hurtful." she answered, as silence overtook their conversation; each in their own thought.

Suddenly, Ashley stood up from the crate she had been sitting in. "Come on." she said.

"What? Where are we going." the _Problem Solver_ asked, confused.

"We're going back to catering to watch Maria's match." the blonde replied as the Tyson soon joined her towards the catering area. As they made their way inside, the made it right on time to see Maria attempt to pin the Candy-Coated Diva, but couldn't, as a hooded figure pulled her off.

* * *

_Maria folded her arms over her chest and stared at her boyfriend pointedly._

_"I don't know what your problem is lately, Randy, but your childishness is beginning to really annoy me." She scrunched her nose up. "And to be honest, your attitude is a huge turn off. No one wants to be around you because of the way you act."_

_"Honey, have you seen me? I'm chased around the world." he snarled._

_"See, that is exactly what I'm talking about." The beautiful redhead let out an exasperated sigh. "You're just…. I don't understand this sudden change of attitude. What's your problem, anyway? Did someone do something to make you pissed off at the world?"_

_"My problem is,…." he started, as his expression changed, then suddenly went to the cold one he had now. "I don't have a problem."_

_"Huh," Maria scoffed. "You could have fooled me. Why have you been so snippy with everyone, including me, if you don't have a problem?" Her expression softened a bit. "I'm your girlfriend, Randy, you know that you can talk to me if something's wrong._

_"I said there's nothing wrong!" he yelled, exasperated._

_Maria dropped the subject, not wanting to get into a full-blown argument with the Legend Killer--they had quite enough of those--but she couldn't let it go for long. She pushed her hair back, looked right at Randy, and said, "Then I guess being an uncaring asshole is in your nature, right?"_

"_What do you possibly now about me?" he scoffed._

_"Well, let's see, I am your girlfriend, after all," Maria said, placing a finger to her mouth. "I'd like to think that I know you pretty well. But from the way you've been acting, maybe I don't. In fact, maybe I fell in love with a different guy."_

_"So? Because you're my girlfriend, you think you know everything about me? Oh, honey, you're wrong." he said quietly._

_"So you've been lying to me," Maria answered, her voice barely above a whisper._

"_What if I was?" he asked sharply, before walking away._

"What the hell are you doing?" Maria yelled, startled by the mysterious person that had pulled her off of Candice, thus costing the match.

And slowly, the Legend Killer lifted of his hood to reveal his face.

"I'm doing exactly what you deserve to have happen." he answered.


	3. A Jerk and a Diva

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A/N: I hope you guys like it. Please read and review.

** Thank you Super T, Ahhlex, and Living on the EDGE for reviewing Chapter 2.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the WWE or it's Superstars.**

Maria was hurt and humiliated. Okay, so she and Randy didn't have the best of history. _Or at least, not anymore_ the redhead thought. She had tried to be as civil as possible to the Legend Killer. Or at least she had tried to. But after this, if he wanted a war, he'd certainly get one, because Maria Kanellis wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

* * *

"That jerk!" Ashley muttered angrily.

Tomko nodded. "I don't know what kind of thing is going on between those two, but that wasn't the fairest thing he could do."

"Hey guys, what are you talking about?" Mickie James, asked, coming up to the two.

"About how rude Randy was to go and do that to Maria." Ashley nodded towards the television screen.

"Well, I kind of liked what he did." the brunette piped up.

"You liked that he cost Maria her match?" Ashley asked.

Mickie shrugged. "I don't really like Maria, so I don't really care about that. But, that's not what I was talking about. I meant the look in his eyes. The passion he has for this business. It's kind of like Chris Jericho's."

Ashley was…surprised. She didn't know whether to get angry of laugh.

"Anyway, I better go get read for my tag match with Chris. I'll see you out there, Ash." She smiled at the blonde.

"Yeah, you sure will." she nodded, distracted, and the brunette Diva walked away.

"Wait, see me out there? For what?" she asked the Problem Solver.

"Beats me." he shrugged.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Stephanie's office…

"Dad, I don't know what you're making such a fuss about." Stephanie rolled her eyes. Thankfully, she was talking to her dad on the phone, so he couldn't see her.

"He seemed slow. And a bit out of pace." her dad observed.

"For crying out loud, it was his first nigh back!" she muttered.

"Yeah, well, maybe we made a mistake in hiring him back." he answered.

"Dad, Tomko's my superstar. Don't worry about it. Because I won't have any of _my _superstars failing. Then again, he never has been." she said angrily.

She put the phone down, and stared at the match she had been replaying. In which she saw something she couldn't believe.

"Dad, I'm going to have to call you back. It's urgent." she said.

"Mary!" she yelled out.

"Yes, Ms. McMahon?" her personal assistant came in the room.

"Get me Tyson Tomko."

* * *

Mickie James could be described as hyper and always cheery. At least, from the fans' perspective, she was. But those who knew her, really knew her, knew she was anything but that. She was dark and gloomy. Although in order for others to like her, she had to pretend she was always smiling. In fact, she hated smiling. Not that anyone knew. Or at least bothered asking about. Because in this company, she was just another Diva. One that was getting pushed more out of the limelight as time passed.

* * *

"Excuse me? Mr. Tomko?" the quiet blonde who helped the Billion Dollar Princess, raced towards the Diva and the Superstar.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Miss McMahon wishes to speak with you. It's urgent." she pressed.

"All right then, I'll see you around, Ashley." he said, and went to the corner opposite of the two blondes, and the assistant began to follow him.

"Hey, uh, Miss?" Ashley called out.

Mary turned around.

"What's your name?" the Dirt-Diva asked.

"Mary. I'm Mary Prescott." she extended her hand out to the Diva.

"I'm Ashley Massaro." the taller of the two blondes smiled.

* * *

"Are you kidding me?" Tyson asked.

"No, I'm not." Stephanie shook her head.

"Stephanie, I can't just…" he started, but the brunette interrupted.

"Yes, you can! You came to the match hurt, and told no one. So, you'll go to rehab for that shoulder. End of story." she muttered.

* * *

The Dirty-Diva had never been more worried about a match as much as she was now. Why, you ask? Oh, only because she was teaming against the Legend Killer to take on Mickie James and Chris Jericho. Randy freaking Orton! The last person she got along with. She honestly didn't know if this day could get any worse.

"Hey Ash." Maria waved glumly.

"Maria." Ashley smiled sadly.

"Well, don't we look happy?" Maria joked.

"Yeah, I guess we don't." Ashley laughed.

"Are you okay? You seem worried." the redhead noted.

"I, Maria…I'm in tag match." she said quietly.

"That's great news!" Maria smiled.

"And my tag team partner is Randy Orton." she finished.

* * *

"I can't believe it, Ty. That was a pretty bad call from you." Christian Cage shook his head. Of course, he was on the phone, so the Problem Solver couldn't actually see it.

"Well, what did you expect me to do, Jay?" The other man retorted, his tone sarcastic. "Go and tell Vince that I didn't feel like working the match? Yeah, I'm sure that would have gone over well with the boss."

The blonde man sighed. "Okay, so maybe he's not the best of bosses to work for. But still, you should have said something? What if something happened? He wouldn't have made himself responsible, and we both know it."

"And nothing happened." he repeated.

"Look, I don't what to tell you anymore, Ty. Just go to the rehab place, and get better. Otherwise, I won't be able to kick your ass like I've wanted to for the past year." he joked.

* * *

This was an odd experience for Mickie James. She didn't really talk to Randy Orton that much. Especially in a situation to help him out. Well, there's always a first time for everything, right? So instead of thinking of reasons to leave, she knocked on his locker room door. And a few seconds later, it was opened. Only, it wasn't Randy Orton opening the door, but Chris Jericho.

"Hi, Mickie. Anything I can do for you?" he asked.

"Umm.." she started. "I actually wanted to talk to Randy. Is he here?" she asked .

"Yes, he's inside. Come on." the blonde man opened the door.

"I wanted to talk to you." she squeaked.

He raised an eyebrow.

"About our tag team match." she explained.

"Well, we were just talking about that." Chris smiled.

"Great, then can you give us a second?" she asked him.

"Sure." he nodded and left.

"What was that, James? I was having a conversation!" he said angrily.

"Yeah, and this is more important." she said angrily.

"Yeah, and why's that?" he asked.

"Because it's about Ashley." she explained. _Well, _she thought inwardly, _that shut him up._


	4. Decisions

**A/N: Well, I hope you all enjoyed the Royal Rumble. Flashbacks are in italic. Please read and review. Oh, and for anyone that likes Mandy, I'll be doing a Mandy one-shot soon.**

**Thank you Super T, Living on the EDGE, and Ahhlex for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: I bet ya'll already know I don't own the WWE.**

* * *

Randy Orton wasn't used to feeling like he needed to bargain for something. Usually, he just got things.

"Look, I don't know what makes you think I'm interested in hearing something about Ashley." he said.

She laughed. "Oh, it's not about Ashley, but it has to do with Ashley." she replied.

"I don't get it." he responded.

His response made her laugh. Finally, she went and whispered her plan in his ear.

Mickie James was one twisted person.

* * *

_Maria gasped. "Randy, how dare you!"_

_He shrugged. "It's the truth."_

"_No, it's not." she growled._

"_Yes, Ria, it is. It's not our fault Ashley's trashy and she dresses like she's going to--"_

"_Say one more word, and you're dead to me, Randy." Maria hissed._

* * *

"Ash, hi." Y2J greeted the Diva walking into gorilla position.

"Chris, how's it going?" she asked, hugging the blonde man.

"Good. You?" he asked.

"I'm okay." she smiled. "Not too thrilled about teaming with Randy, but can you blame me?'

"Randy's not a bad guy." Chris shook his head.

"You mean he's still a bad guy once you get to know him, right?" she joked.

"Ash, I'm not kidding. Randy's just confused."

"Gee, thanks, Jericho." Randy piped up, coming up from behind Chris.

"Randy." he smirked.

"Ashley." he nodded at the Dirty Diva.

The blonde woman was taken aback. Randy Orton never acknowledged her. Not anymore. At least not since they stopped being friends, when he became a jerk.

"Randy." she nodded back.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked.

She nodded.

* * *

"_Answer me, dammit!" Maria hissed._

"_Why? So you can go and tell me that I'm nothing but a cheater?" the Legend Killer hissed back._

"_Randy, I--"_

"_What? You're gonna say sorry? Well, guess what? I don't need it." he said, and left her standing in the hall, stunned._

* * *

"Mary?" Stephanie McMahon called out, taking a short break from looking over at the company's papers.

"Yes, Ms. McMahon?" the blonde woman asked.

"What do you think of the company rehiring Christian Cage back?" the Billion Dollar Princess asked.

"Excuse me?" her assistant blinked.

"Do you think the company is making the right decision by hiring him back?" she repeated.

The small blonde just stared at her boss. "Well, I…I've been a fan of Mr. Cage for a while now. I guess I'm happy he's coming back."

Stephanie McMahon smirked. "Thanks, Mary."

* * *

"John Cena speaking, who's this?" John asked as he answered his phone.

"Hey Cena. It's me." a voice said.

"Who's 'me'?" he asked, confused, before recognizing the voice. "Dude, it's been ages since we're talked."

"Yeah. Listen, I heard about Tomko. How's he taking the injury?" the person asked.

"What injury?" the World Heavyweight Champion asked. "He's hurt?"

The person on the opposite end of the conversation groaned. "You mean Vince hasn't addressed it? Crap, listen John, you didn't from me, okay? Just….act surprised if he tells you."

"Dude, I didn't even know until now. How'd he get hurt?" John asked.

"It's not my place to tell you. Listen, man, I need a favor."

"Let's hear it." the Champion said, as the man he was talking to began to explain just what the favor was.

* * *

"Tyson, dude hold up." John Cena jogged towards the Problem Solver.

"John, what's up?" he asked.

'Nothing." he lied. "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out later? You know, catch up?"

Tyson hesitated. With his answer, he even told John he was hurt, or lied to him. "Actually, John, I…I'm hurt, so I'm leaving today."

"Are you serious?" John asked, pretending to be surprised.

"Yeah." he nodded.

"Oh, all right then. I guess we'll catch up when you're back. Have you told anyone you're hurt?" the Champion asked.

The Problem Solver shook his head. "No, you're the only one that knows."

"Good." John Cena smiled, and left, leaving Tomko confused as to what that had been about.

* * *

"'_Randy, where are we going?" Maria asked, laughing._

"_You'll see." he smiled._

"_Randy! You blindfolded me at, what? 10 in the night? At least tell me where we're going. Please?" she asked._

"_We're here." he replied._

_And as he took of his girlfriend's blindfold, she was stunned. Before her, in the beach, was a trail of rose petal, and the end, a candle lighted dinner._

* * *

"Hey Maria. How's it going?" Chris Jericho asked the redhead he had bumped into.

"I…I'm good." she said after a while. "What about you?" she asked.

"I'm doing fine, thanks." he smiled at the Diva.

"All right then, I'll see you later Chris." she hugged the Superstar, and began to walk away.

"Wait! Ria, don't!" he shouted, but it was too late.

In front of Maria, was Randy Orton. Hugging Ashley.

* * *

**A/N: Well, looks like things are about to heat up in the next chapter. Anyone want to take a guess as to who John Cena was talking to?**


End file.
